About Luciferase Lentivirus

Luciferase enzymes are used in bioluminescence and have become powerful tools in biological and medical research. These enzymes have been discovered in several animal species, and due to their variance in spectral properties, luciferase types can be used singly or in combination with each other. For example, Gaussia and Renilla type luciferase enzymes are classified as emitting “flash” light (Figure 1) due to its high-intensity and rapid-decay light. On the other hand, Firefly luciferase enzymes exhibit “glow” kinetics, characterized by less sensitive but longer lasting emittance. A table summarizing some of these difference is shown below (Table 1). Therefore, it is important to know which types of luciferase is needed for your experiments. We provide lentiviruses with an optional selection marker for the expression of Renilla and Firefly-type luciferase, which can be used in single reporter experiments. Additionally, we have made available Renilla-T2A-Firefly luciferase lentiviruses for duel reporter assays.

Comparing Luciferase

Firefly Luciferase

Renilla Luciferase

Gaussia Luciferase

Substrate

Luciferin

Coelenterazine

Coelenterazine

Cofactor

C02,ATP,Mg2+

O2

O2

Light

Green-Yellow

Blue

Blue

Wave Length

550-570nm

470-490nm

470-490nm

Secretion

No

No

Yes

Kinetics

Glow

Flash

Flash

Click on each link to download the corresponding sequence file in Genbank format.